|
Hard Candy
A Review by Rachel Storm
To say that HARD CANDY (2005) is a film that plays with gender roles would be too simplistic and obvious, though true. Furthermore, I feel that ultimately what power lies in the movie has less to do with the gender of the main characters and more to do with other facets of their relationship. This isn't about a girl taking revenge upon a man, and all the inferences made by that act. This isn't I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. To take a lesson from the 7th season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," it's about power. |
 |
You could say that typically men have had power in our society, and you'd be right. But this film isn't commenting on which gender has the power, who steals it from whom, etc. Jeff, the thirty-something photographer, doesn't really have any power. Any that he seems to have is an illusion created by Hayley, a 14 year old girl he meets on the internet.
Hayley on the other hand has all the power. She's intelligent, crafty and persuasive. What's amazing about that isn't the fact that she's female-- it's that she's only 14, but she talks as if she's at least twice that. It's obvious from the beginning though that Hayley's calling the shots. She convinces Jeff to meet in real life, and then to bring her back to his apartment. The next thing he knows, he's been drugged and tied to a chair.
So who's the wolf in sheep's clothing here? It's "Little Red Riding Hood" for pedophiles. Beware the little girl skipping down the path.
The thing I most enjoyed about this film is how it played on my sympathies. As much as it sends a warning to bad sheep pretending to be wolves, it also grabs the viewer by the collar and asks them to take a side. It would be so easy to side with Hayley, commend her on justice well-served and be glad that the world of HARD CANDY is rid one more pedophile. But I honestly felt bad for the guy. I wanted Hayley to get caught, and I wanted her to be punished in a sense, for playing such a dangerous game. She was obviously crazy and didn't have the right to take Jeff's punishment into her own hands.
To have that opinion sounds horrible, given the situation. Let the pedophile win? That's not right! But the point the film tries to make is that while he may have unnatural desires, he's still a human being made up of human experiences. He's no monster, he barely has any personal power. The only thing I can glean from my reaction is that I didn't believe a child had a right to consume and wield all that power. It felt wrong, and I wanted her to fail because of it. It's so bizarre to think that, but that's kind of what I liked about the film.
HARD CANDY isn't a gory film at all. The entire effect is achieved through a battle of wills, although complemented by physical tension. The only blood in the film is from a homemade castration that we never quite get to see, but can hear as it occurs. What makes the movie scary is the power struggle between Jeff and Hayley. No doubt, it is frightening to know that there are adults out there who pursue, lure, molest, rape and murder innocent children. But in the end, it's Hayley's mind and power which are scariest. Although she admittedly acts out on behalf of the innocent, she herself is not.
You can also read Marya’s review of Hard Candy in the first issue of Ax Wound.
READ more (back)
|
